The 33rd APEC Leaders’ Informal Meeting will be held in Shenzhen soon. What are Asia-Pacific economies concerned about this year? The reporter loaded documents from previous APEC meetings, public databases and information previously verified by the team into his portable smart interview partner "Xiaoda". Today's "Asia-Pacific Questions" focuses on "innovation".
In APEC's cooperation agenda, from "new energy" to "digital economy" to "artificial intelligence", the connotation of "innovation" is gradually upgrading. When artificial intelligence empowers thousands of industries, how can thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises keep up? Where will the first clue Xiaoda finds take us? Let’s go and see it together.
CCTV reporter Li Xia: Today, artificial intelligence is moving from code to factory and into workshops. Economies in the Asia-Pacific are setting off a new wave of AI industrialization. However, in the discussions at this year’s APEC-related meetings, a concern emerged repeatedly: technological dividends will not be automatically shared, and the application gap may widen the development gap. What do people say when faced with concerns?
Xiaoda: In July this year, the Chengdu Statement reached at the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Digital and Artificial Intelligence elevated "open source" to the APEC ministerial level for the first time. Each economy also mentioned the same starting point - small, medium and micro enterprises.
Making AI accessible and affordable to small and medium-sized enterprises is the key to bridging the gap. Therefore, the reporter came to the Robot Valley in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, where many small and medium-sized enterprises in the robot and AI industry chain are gathered.
In the bustling exhibition hall, teams from Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries are visiting and communicating.
Liu Tuo, person in charge of Shenzhen Tuoji Technology Co., Ltd.: Since June, more than 200 batches of customers have been received here, more than 90% of which are overseas groups.
During the interview, the reporter found that not only the visit, but also the AI hardware companies of a group of overseas entrepreneurs have been intensively registered in Shenzhen since this year.
Liu Tuo told reporters that his company has built an open source platform for robots and moved the industrial chain information of Robot Valley into the platform. Overseas customers first learn about it online and then visit it offline. This year, hundreds of overseas entrepreneurs have taken root in Shenzhen through this platform.
Gilberto, a young Mexican boy, has just been in Shenzhen for three months. His entrepreneurial idea is to develop an AI detection device for the cattle and sheep in his hometown that can accurately locate and monitor the health status of cattle and sheep in real time through AI algorithms. You have the idea, but to actually make it happen, it may take several months just to develop a motherboard that meets the needs.
Mexican Entrepreneur Gilberto: At first we wanted to develop it ourselves, but that would take a lot of time.
What he didn't expect was that he could solve the problem in Robot Valley in just ten minutes' walk.
Su He, engineer at Shenzhen Chaihuo Maker Space: There is a new model of motherboard that can meet the demand. The motherboard is open source. You can find the design drawings on the official website and easily design your own board and put it into mass production.
This means that Gilberto does not have to draw every circuit line from scratch, nor does he have to overcome every technical difficulty alone. With ready-made open source modules and on-site "consultation" with engineers, problems that might have taken months to figure out were solved in a few hours.
Mexican Entrepreneur Gilberto: In other places, it takes me a month for one iteration; in Shenzhen, I can complete four iterations a month. If you encounter a problem that you can't solve on your own, you can find a corresponding engineer so that you can solve any problem.
From "0 to 1", making a product is only the first step in starting a business. From "1 to 100", what can we rely on to make technology truly enter the market? With this question, the reporter walked into a young start-up company.
The founder, Corey, is a 23-year-old American boy. After coming to China for a year and a half, he specialized in the "brain" of robots - large robot models.
Interestingly, the United States has leading artificial intelligence technology and scientific research resources, but he chose to come to China to start a business. Why? Corey's answer is not in his office, but in the factories.
American entrepreneur Corey: Our technology is now running in two to three Chinese factories every day. Such a supply chain does not currently exist in the United States.
For Kerui, China's complete manufacturing system and rich application scenarios allow him to continuously bring new technologies into the factory and bring new problems encountered in the factory back to research and development.
Regarding landing in China, Kerui said that there is no need to choose which country to start a business in. A good innovation ecosystem does not mean that all technologies must be owned by oneself, but that the strengths of different countries and different companies can be shared openly and mutually achieved.
American entrepreneur Corey: We are a diverse team, including Chinese and Americans. These two countries will lead our generation in the next ten years. One foot in China and one foot in the United States are crucial to the success of any company in the future.
This kind of ecology is also attracting more and more entrepreneurs. Here, maker meetups are held every month.
Overseas Maker Bai Mingge: Why Shenzhen? People want to share first. This is different from protecting one's own connections and technology in traditional Western business methods. This is much more transparent.
Overseas Maker Du Wudi: Shenzhen is a very open and tolerant place. If you have new ideals, you can cooperate with suppliers in Shenzhen to implement your ideas together.
Overseas entrepreneurs have found technology and manufacturing partners, and Chinese companies have also found new customers and markets.
Liu Tuo, head of Shenzhen Tuoji Technology Co., Ltd.: By creating an open source ecosystem, Chinese manufacturers can match better buyers, form two-way cooperation, and drive the entire Shenzhen robot ecosystem to embrace the world.
The half-hour supply chain circle keeps global makers in Shenzhen. But in Asia-Pacific, there are many more people who cannot come in person. How can their needs be seen?
Xiaoda searched the global access information of this open source platform and found that visitors came from more than 60 countries and regions, covering 80% of APEC economies, with the United States, Australia, Singapore, etc. being the main origins. A network connecting global artificial intelligence demand and industrial supply is taking shape.
In Shenzhen, eliminating the “smart gap” is not about building technological walls, but about sharing opportunities through openness. Cooperation across mountains and seas time and time again supports every innovative dream. China is working with its Asia-Pacific partners to turn more and more imaginations about the future into a reality within reach.
